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A National Science Foundation (NSF) program recently awarded 17 projects a total of $51 million to develop and implement bold, new, potentially transformative models for graduate education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program awarded projects in high-priority, interdisciplinary research areas, including six projects in NSF's Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems (INFEWS) research initiative and three in its Understanding the Brain (UtB) effort.

"Integration of research and education through interdisciplinary training will prepare a workforce that undertakes scientific challenges in innovative ways," said Dean Evasius, director of the NSF Division of Graduate Education. "The NSF Research Traineeship awards will ensure that today's graduate students are prepared to pursue cutting-edge research and solve the complex problems of tomorrow."

While each project covers a unique area of research, all projects train students to address complex problems at the intersection of different scientific disciplines and provide them with the skill set to tackle these problems during their training and on entering the workforce. Examples of specific areas of research include coastal resilience; urban environmental challenges; data-intensive approaches to solve complex problems (e.g. food security, epidemics); food-energy-water issues in coastal, indigenous, urban or agricultural settings; and brain function.

The NSF-wide NRT program addresses key issues in the scientific community, including educating and expanding the science and engineering workforce, broadening participation in STEM education to include traditionally underserved populations, and creating new resources at institutions that train STEM graduate students.

The new NRT awards and their principal investigators and associated institutions are:

The next solicitation for NRT awards, including priority research areas, is anticipated in fall 2017. As information concerning the new NRT solicitation becomes available, it will be posted on the NRT website.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2019, its budget is $8.1 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.